5 millenias compressed

5,000 years of middle-eastern history, in the usual 90 seconds.

dove - evolution

our perception of beauty is distorted.

did you make her commit suicide?

because of you, a girl might have committed suicide.

A stranger called me out of the blue pleading for my help. He wants to know if there is any way in which I could assist to purge copies of a file that has been circulating on the Internet. The file in question is actually a 3-minute pornographic video clip of a Singaporean Malay girl.

Apparently, the video is that of his 22-year old niece. The 3GP file allegedly shows her in full nudity while engaging in various sexual activities with her ex-boyfriend. Spiteful after being told to end the relationship, the revengeful lover purportedly gave the file away to several of his friends.

The video has since been making its round on local pornographic forums and file sharing networks. According to the uncle, the file is so widespread that it ended up in the hands of the family’s relatives who often teased her during the last Hari Raya visits.

Drowned in humiliation, she committed suicide about a month ago by leaping from her bedroom window. According to the uncle, her body was so mangled that they had to keep the “kain kafan” (burial shroud) sealed throughout the eerily somber funeral ceremony.

The 40-day anniversary of her death is approaching soon and her family members and close friends are thinking of holding a gathering at her parents’ flat to offer prayers for her soul. The Malays call it a “kenduri” and it is largely believed to offer some reprise for the dead. Besides, it is an opportunity for the family to gain closure over the tragedy.

But before the prayers, the family is appealing to all those who are having the file to delete and cease it from distribution. With a heavy heart, I had to explain to the uncle that it is not possible to simply “purge” a file on a sex forum without the intervention of the site’s owners.

I pray that her soul will finally be at peace.

now you know what to do. remember the dead, and do what is right.

link: http://www.ridzwan.com/2006/12/another-tragic-suicide.html

the history of religion

in 90 seconds.

internet = us

learn the entire evolution of the internet, in just ±4 minutes.

simply brilliant.

the beauty of the brain

it's been a long time. i thank all the non-existent fanboys and virtual scourers for awaiting my return. writing is a blessing. rarely does it feel as good to write and freely express what you're thinking. from concept to product, eventhough it's a merely re-assembled alphabets what we memorized since we were three years old; this mere combinations and arrangements can make war, kill people, feed mouths, or just stay there and be forgotten like wind blowing on your face.

now that i'm here, i realise that everybody has got a price. everyone can be made to do something he doesn't want, as long as the price is right. yes, humans are that shallow.

for example, you can be turned into a drone from 9-5. every weekday. and every other saturday. you are forced to fight slumber and the softness of the bed, the familiar smell of home, the whiff of a good hearty breakfast, just so that you can be a punctual slave.

you can have a ball of iron chained to your feet, cursing the kings, fingertips thumping away at moulded plastics, and slaving yourself... and yet finding the drive and motivation to fulfill the social pressure of impressing others.

alas, only the wonderful brain can manage all that. while the heart is left fighting the brute reality to continue dreaming of the wonderful things in life.

parenthesis

there's this current mini-furore on the Today newspaper regarding children who send their parents to nursing homes. one can only imagine the look in the parents' eyes once the plans of her own offspring is realized.

at that moment, who can understand the deep breaths she takes to hold her tears back? who can comprehend the ballasts of emotion tugging down at her heart?

which, i cannot help but to quote Sinkapore's very own health minister's comment on setting up nursing homes across the courty's boundary - as is it the more cost-efficient method.

"My personal view is, our land is expensive. But we
have nearby neighbours in Johore, Batam and Bintan. The elderly want to reach
their doctors within half to one hour. So retirement villages in neighbouring
countries is possible, barring the cross-border hassle. It is best to find cheap
land on short leases," said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan.

but is that really all there is to it? considerations are based on arguments of cost-benefit? where every single feeling, responsibility, and emotions be itemized and listed down, complete with cost prices and comparison if it were to be done with tweaks?

absurd.

back to the topic, after years of sacrifice and tears, i cannot even bear to imagine how the unlucky parent must be thinking.

one might argue it boils down to the basics of economics. but, as the popular catch phrase goes: there are just some things money can't buy.

some things..

yes, it has been quite some time since i've last written.

i miss the times when i actually have nothing to do.

i miss the moments when i suddenly realised i have something to do, and, that's it - only one single thing to do for the whole day.

i miss it when a curious feeling stirs in me, when this blur of an idea comes to mind, and i actually have the luxury of time to focus on it, imagine, synthetize, and materialize it into understandable expressions for others.

which brings me to last time i actually did something just because i liked doing it. to want to do something, for absolutely no ulterior motives. a unadulterated deed so sincere that it doesn't matter how long it takes or what others think of it.

a pure movement inspired by passion and clarity, all uncertainties and doubts are seen as complements and cure.

yeah i miss doing things that way.

i'm gonna do more of that.

Stocks and Shares

It's been quite some time. Hahahaaa. Life goes on. Make money, lose money. Blah blah.

Yupp.. Right now, I'm interested in making money. Thought of creating a company. What for? Work hard for profits of course. But, why make company when you can share the wealth of established MNCs? How, trading shares. Their shares.

So my quest for the moral dilemma of stock-trading begins. Short term day-trading? Or long-term invesments? Where do I draw the line? What if my I sell my shares before it depreciate? Is it considered haraam?

Yup, lotsa questions. But after weeks of googling (yes, it actually took weeks since I consider myself to be an above-average googler), I found the sweet answer that makes exact sense.

[Taken from here]

"Question:

I have a question regarding buying stocks for couple of months and then sell it. Is that considered to be day trading and prohibited (or not)! Thanks.

Answer:

Answered by Sheikh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo

In answer to your question, it may be necessary to first explain the stance on day-trading I believe to be the one most consistent with the teachings of the Shariah.

To begin with, equity investing offers Muslims the opportunity to profit, not by lending at a guaranteed rate of return, but by sharing in ownership, and thus commiting to share in the risks associated with ownership.

Such a commitment is clearly in consonance with the concept of stewardship or khilafah, and this, more than anything else, explains how the Islamicprohibition against interest is as much a moral matter as it is a legal one.

In the Qur'an, it is written: "His is all that is in the heavens and on earth. Everything submits to Him" (2:116). When the earth and everything in it belong to the Almighty, the role of humankind is no more than that of caretakers and, as such, Muslim investors are responsible to the Almighty for how they spend the wealth He has given to them in trust.

All of this explains why Islamic law views investments made on the stock market as informed commitments to responsible ownership. Day-trading, however, entails no such commitment. Rather, the purpose is to move in quickly and then to move out just as quickly, taking along whatever profits may accrue. Most day-trading is accomplished in the space of a few hours, as day-traders speculate on rising prices, hoping to sell before prices drop.

And certainly, the intention of day traders is not to commit to responsible ownership. On the contrary, their intention from the outset is to sell. They monitor the price fluctuations and they sell as soon as they have made whatever they consider to be acceptable profits.

When this is the intention, then whether they take a few hours to liquidate their positions, or a few days, or even a few weeks, they are clearly not commiting to responsible ownership; and their actions are clearly contrary to Shariah teachings.

On the other hand, someone who buys stock with the intention of commiting to responsible ownership, but then for whatever reason is forced to reconsider his/her position, will not be the same as a day trader even if s/he holds the stock for only a short time.

In this matter, as in all legal matters, it is the intention that counts.

And Allah knows best."

=(

=(((

regrets

you won't know until it's over. you won't realise until it's too late. truth be told, cliches always get to me.

i have got two more nights left over here. then, i will be flying off back to my homeland. only until a few hours ago, i was ever so happy and excited to get back. then i went on a last-minute souvenir shopping spree, and it hits me. although i loathe so much the incessant behaviour of the Egyptians, their over-expressive gestures and vocal pollution, their trigger-happy honking road etiquette (or lack of), their customer is almost-always-wrong service industry; i hate to say it, but i'm gonna miss this place.

at first, i thought that what held this place sane for me was the friends i made throughout my four years here. but when most of them flew back for their summer holiday (no one prefer African summer), i realise i can easily manage life here without them. i think that, to a certain extent, i had adapted evolved myself to live in a habitat which defies my natural instincts.

thus, all this while, while i quietly curse their daily interpersonal skills, i had unconciously created this barrier that to withstand the daily emotional battering. and maybe, this barrier became infused with my natural immune system, and became a healthy part of me. a part of which i can't live without.

crappy theory aside: i really am gonna miss this place. four years in the middle of nowhere, and you will get attached to it somehow. i should be so positively distracted from the negativity that surrounds this place in the first place. the fact i'm going back to a place where the system - though costly and rigid - assumes safety first, where you shouldnt expect the unexpected, nor the taxi ride will likely turn into a shouting match.

alas, emotion defies reason as assumption defies reality. the attachment will result in a vacuum. and yet again, i know that the next chapter of my life will undeniably distract me from the current overwheming emotion.

so, as this chapter of my life ends, another will begin. and as this chapter closes, then do i realise my past mistakes. i regret not going to the mosque to perform the five daily prayers. i regret not taking up classes from highly-regarded scholars over here. i regret not going to all the places i could.

and i regret that regrets always come too late. having said that, if i were to turn back time, there is a big chance i won't do what i regretted not doing.

hmm, human nature?

here's one from a different perspective:

27. If thou couldst but see when they are confronted with the Fire! They will say: "Would that we were but sent back! Then would we not reject the signs of our Lord, but would be amongst those who believe!"

28. Yea, in their own (eyes) will become manifest what before they concealed. But if they were returned, they would certainly relapse to the things they were forbidden, for they are indeed liars.

29. And they (sometimes) say: "There is nothing except our life on this earth, and never shall we be raised up again."

--Al-An'aam (6:27-29)

Sadaqallah Al-Azheem.

The Difference Between Looting and Finding

from http://longorshort.blogspot.com

Finding:

AP Caption: "Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina"


Looting:

AP Caption: "A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005."

moral renegades (aka grrl power)

masquerading as female teens, they simply cut and paste their chat logs and tell the truth to the world. ahh, the long-lost simplicity and brute honesty is appealing. men asking for sex and got exposed for it. it's about time someone do something that actually deters these bastards from preying on underaged idiots.

personally, i think it's good what Dolls Gone Wild are doing. it's about time someone actually do something about the morality issues concerning stoopidly-rebellious-for-no-valid-reason-young-punks (sounds better than teens).

their renegade tactics may be questionable, but it's not really objectionable. it does seem legal btw. and it's really better than any gahmen-initiated anti-internet abuse programmes i've seen.

kudos to Dolls Gone Wild. thank you for making the world a better place.

http://yourguysxxxposed.blogspot.com/

committees

"COMMITTEES are a group of the unfit appointed by the unwilling
to do the unneccessary."

- Carl C Byers

who wants to be a millionaire?

long time no post. phasing in.. came across a good article.

Start on your first $1 million at age 16

It's easier than you think to become a millionaire. The magic combo?
Getting an early start saving and having the discipline not to raid the piggy
bank.

old school leads the way. more here.

when it sinks in

so almost everyone's off and away. one by one, until only some are left. yeah, the lucky few that are seemingly stuck here until we pry ourselves up to the next pivotal step. everybody makes it seems so big, and it is.

but i'm not feeling anything. not yet actually. i'm not even preparing myself for the oh-so-gloomy future that would shape me into the entity i will be for the next 20 years. but maybe that's because i'm lazy.

so, a couple of us are still here. a big difference from the 20+ or so that were here just weeks ago. i'm already bored. my activities wouldn't change that much if everyone else were here, but i'm still bored.

in one way or another, i can feel the tranquil serenity -- and somewhat enjoying it actually. and very very gradually, i know it's gonna sink into something.. dark. the peace has the will to turn into silence, quietness, solitude, and finally loneliness. or maybe not, who knows?

oh well, after a couple of years, everyday experiencing the same sight, sound, and smell, you are gonna get used to it if you like it or not.

everyday images and experiences embedded in you and imprinted to your memories, once it's not there, the mind will be forced to occupy itself with other things to fill in those empty space. or the vacuum will affect everything it can.

faces, voices, laughters.. all those smiles and secrets. you will only realise it when it's not there. i wonder if fate has us destined to meet again.

i hope it won't sink in.

in the meantime, carpe diem, everybody.

skeletons in the closet

sometimes enlightening, sometimes funny. but mostly disturbing.
a peek into others' darkest secrets. highly recommended.

here.

iron me this

note to self:

1. stop ironing shirts -- forever.

2. get me a Siemens Dressman Shirt Iron TJ10000GB.

cost of war

price check at post time: one hundred and seventy five billion++.

check it out, and compare.

crusade or oil?

for the umpteenth time already, north korea says that it has nuke weapons. why haven't the US initiate it's pre-emptive shock-and-awe let's kill all the women and children with napalm blasts and cowardly bunker-busting air strikes?? and while we're at that, why don't we wreck havoc in the country as well and make sure innocent civillians will have no good night's sleep for the next 10 years.

the way i see it, iraq says it has no WMD. iran claims it doesn't even have one - yet. and north koreans are - besides boasting it has nukes - undoubtedly living under communist oppression, poverty, humanitarian crisis. oh wait, there's more. pyongyang says multilateral talks are useless, the Korean Central News Agency says Washington is "driving the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war", and north korea doesn't rule out pre-emptive attack against the US.

okay, so maybe some think that kim jong II is a mentally childish & paranoid (so is bush anyway) with no real weapons. but how that fare against saddam? and why does it seem the US are more interested in attacking Iran while brushing off north korea's nuke?

don't get me wrong now. im not for war. how would killing another living being ever be justifiable? just that if this is a multiple choice question, then iraq or iran shoudn't be the answer.

is it a crusade? or will it make more difference if there's lotsa oil welling under north korea's deep blue sea?